Mahavishnu fans only

They are both great but for personal reasons, Inner Mounting Flame. I was already a massive fan when it came out because of his earlier work with Miles which I love and it blew me away. IMF was a big step in his evolution while Birds Of Fire I think was more of an o credential change.  I also dig the quiet soulful virtuosity of My Goal’s Beyond — especially his cover of Goodbye Porkpie Hat. Plus, what can you say about his work with Miles? Finally, on a personal note, I saw him on his tour with Carlos Santana in the mid-70’s. I was sitting in row 9, way too close to this massive tower of speakers — I think I lost 2% of my hearing that night — but it was worth it! (The matter is provably a heretical thing to admit on an audiophile site!)

Sorry “incremental” not “credential”

I had to really think this one through. The Mahavishnu Orchestra sound is ALL refined power. Listen to the Dance of Maya again. Of course, it’s outrageously powerful, but note the structure that drives it. The time signatures. The counterpoint. Syncopation...

The truth is that I love nearly all of their stuff. It’s also true that I heard the Inner Mounting Flame album before any of the others, and that may bias my analysis.

Still, when I HAVE to hear some Mahavishnu, I almost always turn to Inner Mounting Flame first, just as I did all those years ago.

Also:   I entirely concur with Heilbron's opinion of McLaughlin's "quiet soulful virtuosity of My Goal’s Beyond".   
IMO, his cover of "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" is the best of the many versions if that great jazz standard.  

Well, I was going to just eavesdrop because " Mahavishnu fans only", but this short thread got me interested so I headed straight for Amazon Music.  Since The Inner Mountain is supposedly their more raw album I figured I'd start with that.  First off mind blown, never heard of these guys before and I was raised around a wide range of jazz and classical, among other types of music, and my tastes are all over the place, so I'm totally on board with this.  Now the music is great but I'm on my desktop computer listening through Definitive Technology Inclines and this UltraHD Remastered version sounds incredible!  I'm about to run downstairs to kick my wife off the rig in the living room but I will patiently wait until tomorrow to get some daytime listening in so I can crank it.  I probably won't though, I'll most likely still put this on when she goes to bed (My 12-2:30am ritual listening session).  I've been really amazed at the sound I've been getting since upgrading my DAC (Topping DX7-Pro) and I can't wait to see what this sounds like through it.  Equipment upgrades aside, I'm actually excited to find out which one I prefer better.  Rumor has it that my Moabs are "in the homestretch" and they are "worth waiting for", so this will probably get the first play when those arrive and are setup.  I'm enjoying the music that much.

Well that was random and unexpected.  Thanks?!? :)